Face Your Demons

Preface

I used to like the rain, yet one evening was all it took to make me hate it. I hated the pounding huge heavy blobs that soaked me to the bone. I hated the wind that viciously whipped my frail body. I hated the gloomy grey sky.

I could hear everyone mumbling about how it seemed like nature was mourning alongside me. It didn’t feel like that. The rain felt like the most debilitating and frustrating bully. It made me feel small, tiny as a kid’s doll. It made me feel lonely, abandoned, hopeless. I kneeled down and my fists desperately clawed the moist mud. I clenched it as tears began to roll down my cheeks. The chill in the air sent shivers down my spine. I swallowed the bitter taste of fear and deeply inhaled the damp scent of wet earth and mulch.

My sobbing did not go unnoticed – the people close by rushed to help me. They wrapped their arms around me and raised me from the ground. Indistinct soothing words were hummed to my ears, a melancholic monotonous melody. I looked around. In the midst of the hazy rain, I was able to make out the busy throng assembled outside my house. They were all stressed and they moved so swiftly. People dressed in special hiking suits, carrying flashlights and first-aid kits, while rescue dogs howled and barked as they trudged up the mountain. Even a helicopter was enroute to assist once the rain was over.

The paramedics walked, or more like carried, me back inside my house. My legs were wobbly, and it felt as if my entire lower body was made out of sand, ready to scatter onto the floor. Because that was where I wanted to be; to the lowest level possible. As soon as they released me from their embrace, I threw myself to the floor with a loud thud.

“Oh my God! She’s collapsing!” And they proceeded to lift me up again.

“No,” I mumbled in a low throaty tone. They stopped, and a woman kneeled next to me. She lowered herself until her ear was close to my face. “I want to lie down, here. Please.” I sounded so brittle. She signaled them to let go of me, and they all stepped back.

I closed my eyes and tried to relax against the cold and hard surface of the wooden floorboards. My sobs immediately transformed into a mild sniffling whimper. Every tensed muscle loosened up, and my body felt like a heavy mass of rubber that begged to get liquefied, so I could travel through the cracks and then get absorbed into the ground. I craved to break down into minuscule particles and escape far away from everything.

My name is Sophie and two days ago I turned fifteen. Yesterday morning, my mom and dad went hiking into the forest that spreads behind our house. I haven’t seen them since then. 

And then came the next day and nothing happened. And then there was the day after that...

A week passed ... nothing.

After three weeks, the search was called off.

There was a tribute funeral – if you can even call it that.

It’s been three years and I haven’t seen them since then.

No bodies were ever found.